Right Heart Strain: Causes, Signs, and What You Need to Know

When your right heart strain, a condition where the right ventricle of the heart is forced to work harder than normal, often due to increased pressure in the lungs. It’s not a disease on its own—it’s a warning sign something else is putting stress on your heart. Think of your right heart as a pump that pushes blood into your lungs to pick up oxygen. If the lungs become stiff, clogged, or under high pressure, that pump has to push harder. Over time, it thickens, stretches, and starts to fail. That’s right heart strain.

This often shows up alongside pulmonary hypertension, high blood pressure in the arteries that carry blood from the heart to the lungs. It’s also common in people with chronic lung diseases like COPD or pulmonary fibrosis. Even a large pulmonary embolism—a blood clot blocking an artery in the lung—can suddenly overload the right side. And if the tricuspid valve leaks badly, known as tricuspid regurgitation, a condition where blood flows backward through the valve between the right atrium and right ventricle, the right heart has to handle extra volume. These aren’t separate problems—they’re linked. One stresses the other.

What does it feel like? Swelling in your legs and belly. Feeling winded even when sitting still. Fatigue that doesn’t go away. A dull ache under your ribs. These aren’t just "getting older" symptoms—they’re your body telling you the right side of your heart is struggling. Doctors check for it with echocardiograms, chest X-rays, and sometimes right heart catheterization. The key is catching it early. Left untreated, right heart strain can lead to right ventricular failure, a serious stage where the right ventricle can no longer pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs, which often worsens overall heart function and cuts life expectancy.

The posts below don’t just talk about heart failure in general—they dig into what happens when the right side gives out. You’ll find real-world insights on how conditions like pulmonary hypertension and chronic lung disease push the heart to its limits. You’ll see how medications and lifestyle changes help ease the load. And you’ll learn how to spot the early signs before things get serious. This isn’t theoretical. These are the stories and science behind what happens when your right heart is under pressure—and what you can actually do about it.